Tag Archives: marathon

Day 104. Is Chili a Good Pre-Run Meal?

What a perfect God we have. I’m scheduled for 8-miles today. But wait … I have an 8-mile Rock The 80s race tomorrow. I don’t need to see people walking on water to call it a miracle or the blind given sight. Are those miracles, of course! Is this a miracle? Of course! Reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures:

Romans 8:28 — All things work together for good for those that are called according to His purpose.

I haven’t quite gone “bumpersticker with this”,but I the magnet hangs on my fridge. Over the years, I have seen God do wonders and this scripture has been a foundation in my life. I’ve found that even if things don’t work out as we plan (keyword “we”), God’s plan is always better, thus the ALL THINGS. If you study that, just imagine. ALL THINGS. Not just some things, but ALL THINGS. I love this promise from God.

And this is so cool … since I didn’t run today, RunKeeper somehow didn’t even dock me a non-training day. Even calls it a rest day. Today’s words of encouragement … I like RunKeeper even more now. Quoting bible scriptures!

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Life lesson #104 — There are no small miracles, only small visions. Give thanks!

What I learned today from my food intake … my wife’s homemade chili has almost no sugar. Note to self! But, is “Chili a good pre-run meal?” Here’s the answer http://www.livestrong.com/article/781-eat-before-running/

Morning weight = 173.5

Today’s Meals:

herbalife run

Meal 1 — 8:45am

Herbalife run

Meal 2 — 1:30pm

herbalife run

Meal 3 — 7:30pm

herbalife run

Meal 2.1 3:30pm

 

Today’s Activities:

  • Rest day. Ready for tomorrow’s race! Wondering what costumes I’ll see tomorrow … will there be a Tubbs and Crockett sighting? Would be hard to run in alligator slip ons.

Saturday, 09-21-2013

 

Day 101. Negative Splits

Up at 6:15am to get my nutrition down at least 45 minutes before my morning run. All that is needed is a banana and some type of hydration drink that is carb central.

Before drinking Herbalife24 Prepare. I would feel a tired — no weary better describes it. You know the feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you’ve had to skip breakfast and lunch is pushed back an hour, but the day-to-day stuff hasn’t stopped. Hands start feeling a little shaky. Thoughts start drifting.

After drinking Herbalife24 Prepare. I don’t experience the crash described above. This is important for endurance runs because once your body crashes, mentally it is hard to tell yourself, “keep going — don’t give up.”

Life lesson #101 — We wear seat belts to protect us from harm against a crash. Do the same with your nutrition.

Morning weight = 172.5. Post-run weight … forgot to measure.

Today’s Meals:

herbalife24 run

Meal 1 — 8:45am

Capture Lunch

Meal 2 — 12:20pm

Capture Dinner

Meal 3 — 7:20pm

Capture Snacks

Various Meals (see below for times)

Snacks:

  • 6:30am – Meal 0 (Pre-Run Nutrition). Banana and Herbalife24 Prepare (2 scoops), Niteworks (1 scoop)
  • 3pm – Meal 2.1 Breakfast for snacks! Cereal Killer!

Capture Results

negative splits

Meal 0 — 7:15am

Meal 2 12:20pm

Meal 2 12:20pm

negative splits

Meal 2.1 3pm

Meal 3 - 7:20pm

Meal 3 – 7:20pm

Today’s Activities:

  • Hump Day, Run Day. MyRunkeeper says, “6 mile negative splits.” Start at 10:20/mile and drop 10 seconds each mile, finishing at 9:50/mile.
  • As you can see from the splits below, I don’t follow instructions very well. I ran the first “slow” mile at 9:26 and the next 4 miles “fast” at 8:19/mile and finished the final “slow” mile at 8:29/mile. I’m starting to really like this!
herbalife24 marathon

6 mile negative splits  (09-18-2013)

Wednesday, 09-18-2013

Day 100. Milestone

Day 100. 100 Days. No matter how you put it, give me a second to celebrate before we press on for the next almost-100 days. I’ve learned a lot about myself over this time. Some good, some needing improvement, but the bottom line is that I’m growing, learning, and running in the right direction.

Growing — A lot of small steps, consistently over time, will undoubtedly make a difference. The key word being consistent. To a lot of people, these are just words on a page so you want proof … let’s take a look at the numbers.

Herbalife run

1st Training Run 8+ Miles (06-10-2013)

Sunday 09-22-2013

Most Recent 8+ Miles (09-22-2013)

Small step after small step which has morphed into long stride after long stride, I’ve shaved off 2 minutes and 50 seconds at this distance. And notably, I’m not running every day. Nearly 3 minutes per mile less and that was only my 24th training run.

Is it too early to imagine what the next 24 training runs can do? Could I possibly be a 6-minute-miler? I’ll answer my own question and say, Too Early! Never was one of my goals and it doesn’t mesh with my current and original goal of running my first marathon. But, don’t tell anybody, seeing these numbers, it is now a post-marathon goal.

Learning — Life lesson #100 — Freely celebrate your milestones, but don’t let your milestones become stumbling blocks. In other words, celebrate but don’t get lazy. This will make sense to anybody that has ever said, “Wow, I can’t believe I finished that (fill-in-the-blank), I deserve a break.” In my personal jog journey, I’ve caught myself a few times saying, “I just ran my personal best time at the required distance … it’s okay to take a few days off.” Be careful not to get too comfortable in your goals — some of the most successful people share this quality … celebrate rarely, but grind daily.

What I’ve Learned. Consistent, regular training is key, but if you don’t get the proper nutrition, you’ll burn out. 100 days in now, I can say that Herbalife24 Prolong and Herbalife24 Hydrate are certainly doing as advertised. I can go longer, or “Prolonger” because of the combination of my nutrition and exercise. I started adding Herbalife Niteworks about 2 weeks ago and my pre-run routine has stepped its game up. The key … whatever activity you do, your nutrition is just as important.

Morning weight = 171.5

Today’s Meals:

herbalife run

Meal 1 — 8:15am

herbalife run

Meal 2 — 12:30pm

Herbalife24 marathon

Meal 3 — 7:30pm

herbalife24 marathon

Snacktime – Meal 2.1, Ritter Sport 1:15pm. Meal 2.2, Homemade Banana Split Cupcake 2:50pm. Meal 2.3, Buttered Popcorn 4:30pm. It was a snack kind of day!herbalife24 marathon

Herbalife24 marathon

Meal 3 — 7:30pm

Today’s Activities:

  • Rest days are good days.

Tuesday, 09-17-2013

Day 99. 1 Down, 1 To Go

Someone call Willard Scott … I’m almost 100! One-hundred days into my personal blog on what I eat, what I do, when I eat it, and when I do it. Say that fast 10 times.

All I ask is that in lieu of the Smucker’s Jam photo, slap my mug on the side of Herbalife24 Prepare and Herbalife Niteworks. I’m sure the Nobel Prize doctor doesn’t need my stamp of approval, but man, ever since I started including Niteworks into my pre-run drink, I feel like a kid running to catch the last swing on the playground. For those of you reading this that never had to do that because there are “Swing Apps” (there’s an App for that), for you I say I feel like Justin Bieber running away from the paparazzi in his white Ferrari.

I was hesitating on adding Niteworks to my program because the label indicates it is not recommended for children, pregnant or lactating women. I’ve been accused of being child-like, but I’m more focused on the “pregnant” part of this as my wife and I are planning for children. If you’re concerned, I recommend asking your physician — my approach and belief, once we’re pregnant, we’ll stop. And notice how I say, “we’re” … I’m sure 100% of women laugh at that.

Any Results?

All the touchy-feely things I feel are great for me, but what about you? For you, I submit my blog posts for every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday … look at the average mile per minute, the decreasing splits, and the increasing distance. I feel great and the measurable stats are consistent with how I feel.

Is Herbalife24 Restore helping? 

The morning after my runs, I don’t feel sore or have any ill effects from pavement pounding. I’m probably due a new pair of shoes, but that’s mechanical stuff. In regards to biological stuff, I feel really good. Yes, I feel good at 42-years old running nearly 80 miles per month. I can say that of all the Herbalife products I’m using to help me in this marathon prep, Restore is the one product that I am consistently taking daily.

Hint … Just put the bottle next to your bed. Put it on the nightstand. If you don’t have a nightstand, put it near your toothbrush. If you don’t have a toothbrush, well … you are probably running solo (but not by choice). It’s the easiest thing to take with water.

My new declaration … I am a lean, mean, running machine! Life lesson #99 — what you focus on is what you get. Biblically, Proverbs 27:7

Where the man goes, the man follows

Morning weight = 174. Post-run weight = 171.

Today’s Meals:

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

Meal 1

herbalife run nutrition

Meal 2

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

Meal 3

herbalife run marathon

Meals Snacks

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

MyFitnessPal 9-16-2013

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

Meal 2 1pm

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

Meal 2.1 — 3:30pm

Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

Meal 3 — 7pm

Today’s Activities:

  • New week, new milestones to break. I find myself going out faster than RunKeeper allows. They allow for a 10-10:30 minute mile on their slow-paced runs. I’m going out between 9-9:30 minute miles for the first 2 miles and then I catch my rhythm and hit mid-8s. All I can say is this … YES! If I wanted to join the Marines, I could pass their PT Test with flying colors.
Training for a run with Herbalife24 Herbalife Strong Herbalife Run

RunKeeper 4 miles + Strides

Monday, 09-16-2013